1. Field of the Art
The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing ice, comprising a compressor which via a liquid separator is supplied with cooling medium from an evaporator, and which transfers compressed medium to a condenser, the condenser being connected to a liquid collector which in turn is connected to the evaporator. 2. Description of Prior Art
There is previously known a series of types of apparatus or machines for producing ice. In such known machines, water is supplied to the machine during the freezing process at the top of plate-shaped ice-making bodies. The water is permitted to flow or trickle down along the bodies whilst passing a freezing medium through passages therein. A portion of the water flowing along the ice-making bodies will then freeze, whereas surplus water is caught by subjacent gutters for removal and possibly recirculation. When the ice layer on the bodies has reached an appropriate thickness, for example after a freezing operation of the machine of approximately 10-15 minutes, the supply of water is stopped, and a thawing medium is passed through the passages in the bodies, the medium heating the bodies sufficiently for the inner stratum of the ice layer to melt. The ice will then slide or fall down from the ice-making bodies in larger or lesser flakes and fall down between the gutters into an ice container or an ice magazine, usually via a crushing device which fractionates the ice in suitable pieces. When all the ice has been loosened, the freezing process is restarted.
The heating of the ice-making bodies usually takes place in the supply of high pressure gas from the pressure side of the cooling compressor to the evaporators, in which the gas gives off condensing heat.